Scottish Cup: Semi Final Draw and Build Up

Well done to Western BC, County BC, Nairn BC and Drongan BC who are through to the semi-finals of The Scottish Cup.

The quarter finals were played throughout April with clubs travelling across Scotland to play for a place in the semis. The standard of play was excellent and it’s fair to say the excitement is building for finals day!

The draw has now been made for the semi-final, with both the semi’s and finals being held at Stirling University from 12noon till around 6pm on Saturday 27 May.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Glasgow School of Sport (GSOS), the only designated National Centre of Excellence for Sport in Scotland, who have provided a trophy on behalf of a number of past players who generously donated a cup to be used for a future tournament – that tournament has been chosen and it will be The Scottish Cup.

Players involved in donating the trophy are: Chris Grimly, Matt Grimley, Sarah Sidebottom, Adam Pringle, Eleanor O’Donnell, Toni Woods and Ciara Torrance.

Good luck to the four teams who have made the semis! We’ll see you all on the 27th for the final showdown, and find out who will claim the title of ‘The Best Club in Scotland’.

Semi Final Draws

• Semi Final 1: Western BC v County BC
• Semi Final 2: Nairn BC v Drongan BC

Let’s hear from the teams:

Western BC

Western BC won the group stage in their area and have continued to impress. They put out a strong team in the quarter finals against County BC Shuttlers, though admit they still felt the nerves before their quarter final matches.

“(In the quarters) our men’s singles star Ganesh went down one set and our ladies singles match was looking very one sided to the other team and we were worried about our chances. Somehow we managed to pull out some really strong performances from there and win it 6-1 in the end! Ganesh turning his singles around gave everyone a much needed boost and we all felt the win was possible from there” – Caroline Collinson, Western BC

When talking about strengths within their team, Western BC tell us that their strength is in the depth of their squad, with a special mention for Caroline and Anna, who played a stormer in the quarters to win their match in 3 tight sets – definitely a pairing to watch out for in the semis!

Looking ahead to their semi-final match against County BC, Western BC said: “We think this is going to be a very difficult team to beat, but they are a young team so we are hoping we can surprise them and pull experience in to the matches with our vets players Ewan and Keith. We would like to have a chance to play both of the other semi-finalists having reached this stage. Bring on the finals!”

Nairn BC

Having enjoyed the competition so far, Nairn BC who were delighted to edge through their area group stages have only gone and booked their place in the semis against Drongan BC, following a hard-fought victory against Edinburgh Nomads A.

“The quarter final match was nick and tuck right through with Edinburgh Nomads all the way to the deciding mixed which was the 4th tie to go to three sets. We managed to win 3 of the 3 setters which proved the difference” – Steven McGregor, Nairn BC

When asked about a game plan for the semi’s and final’s day, Steven tells us: “We are just going down to enjoy the experience of playing against the top players and the top clubs. We wouldn’t be expected to have made it this far so finals day will just be about enjoying the occasion”.

Having self-confessed to perhaps being the oldest team in the competition (in a previous interview!), could Nairn’s experience take them the distance? Steven says: “Probably fair to say we have rode our luck so far, in the qualifying group we edged out Aberdeen titans winning our 4th game 22-20 in a 4-3 match as well as edging past Nomads in the tightest of matches where there were a few games that could have swung the other way”.

Come on Nairn, we love an underdog!

County BC

County BC came out on top against ABA Oilers in their quarter-final and have their eyes firmly set on the Scottish Cup Trophy.

Craig Robertson of County BC tells us: “Our match against ABA was hard fought with our players showing strength and experience. We were a couple of players missing, so going forward we will be at full strength with a squad capable of competing with the other semi-finalists”.

“Our semi-final draw against Western BC is interesting, hopefully we can gain some feedback from County Shuttlers (who lost out in their quarter final) on players and partnerships within Western and we can plan from there”.

With a mix of youth, age, experience and knowledge, County BC are certainly a team to keep an eye on. “If we had an option, playing against Nairn in the final would allow us to compete against the unknown. Drongan are a club and players well known to County BC however we would be happy to play either team with a chance to win the cup!”.

Drongan BC

Having beaten ABA Titans in their quarter final, Drongan BC have already shown their fighting spirit and determination to go as far as they can in this competition. Having felt the pressure early on in the group stages where scoring was just one set to 21, Drongan have settled into their stride in the 3 set matches which they say suit their team better.

When thinking about tactics or a game plan for the semis, Drongan told us: “I think we’ll keep it mostly the same as it’s been working for us, but we have a couple players away or injured so will need to make some substitutes for finals weekend” – Angus Meldrum, Drongan BC.

A special mention was made to in-form Eva Tremble who has been Drongan’s key player so far – she’s played 3 events in all 4 matches we’ve played, which is a big responsibility in a best of 7 but she’s delivered solid performances every time.

Drongan look ahead to their game against Nairn BC which they say will be an interesting contest, getting the to get the chance to play against completely new faces. Drongan added: “If we did get to the final I think we’d like to play County BC, because we know a lot of their team from competitions/clubs elsewhere”.

About The Scottish Cup

The Scottish Cup is the pinnacle of club badminton and has brought teams from all corners of Scotland to go head to head, competing with other clubs.

The competition has given our clubs the opportunity to develop match skills and play against clubs they might not have otherwise met. The initial stages were played in group areas with the winning clubs from the groups going head-to-head in exciting national knock out stages.

say a huge thanks to everyone who has been part of our very first Scottish Cup competition. Your feedback is valuable to us, so if you can think of ways the competition could be improved for next year, please get in touch with Nicky Waterson.

Good luck everyone – fingers crossed to all teams for that first Scottish Cup Trophy.